Scelzi and Hemi Oakley Dodge No. 7 after one qualifying round at Firebird

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2004 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 2 OF 23
CHECKER SCHUCK'S KRAGEN NHRA NATIONALS
FIREBIRD RACEWAY
CHANDLER, ARIZ.
RACE DATES: March 5-7, 2004

CHANDLER, Ariz. (March 5, 2004) - Gary Scelzi and his HEMI-powered Oakley
Dodge impressed in the first round of qualifying for the CSK Nationals,
Round 2 of the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series at Firebird Raceway, by
taking the No. 1 position with a blistering 4.878-second elapsed time at
319.60 mph in the middle of a warm and sunny day.

By the time the final pair of Scelzi and Eric Medlen came to the line for
the second round of qualifying in the cool of the evening, Scelzi was
looking at No. 6. He was considered the favorite to torch the quarter-mile
with a record-breaking pass, but it wasn't to be, as he came awfully close
to the wall at top speed, forcing him to slow to a 5.112/235.43, which
dropped him to No. 7.

"The whole idea is to get the car in the show in the first run, and we did
that," he said. "Then you shoot your shot for the Friday-night run and you
see what you can do. It picked up two hundredths early. It was running
really well, but it chattered the tire and I was drifting toward the
centerline. And right when it started to chatter was when I turned it left,
which turned the whole car left. It drove me right over to the wall. And at
that time I was done. I couldn't get it off the wall. I drove it for three
or four hundred feet right next to the fence and it wasn't coming off the
wall. Better judgment took over and said No, shut it off. So I did."

"We're pleased," he continued. "The car is responding; it's doing what it's
supposed to do. We probably had a little bit too much timing out of it where
it chattered. We probably could have left it in there. So we learned
something. We're in good shape. I'm not unhappy at all. We're OK."

Two more rounds of qualifying will be held tomorrow, Saturday, with final
eliminations beginning at 11 a.m. on Sunday.